Airlines have dismissed a proposal to impose flight restrictions at Heathrow
during winter months in an effort to reduce disruption in the event of
extreme weather.

Heavy snow in recent days has seen the airport – which runs close to full capacity – pre-emptively cancel hundreds of flights, in an attempt to manage delays.

Stewart Wingate, chief executive of Gatwick, this week urged the government to consider reducing the number of flights permitted at Heathrow during December, January and February.

“It just cannot be right that passengers are being asked to accept apologies for pre-emptive flight cancellations,” he said. “The over-scheduling of flights at Heathrow during the winter period should stop.”

Mr Wingate added that the flights could instead move to Gatwick or Stansted.

But the Board of Airline Representative in the UK, which represents more than 80 carriers in Britain, rejected the proposal.

“It is simply not cost effective for airlines to split operations over different airports for short periods and it is unlikely their customers would want this either,” said Dale Keller, BAR UK’s chief executive. “This week’s delays and cancellations demonstrate what the airlines have been saying for years, that additional runway capacity at the UK’s hub airport is required to improve air transport resilience, not only international competitiveness and growth.”